The present invention relates generally to baggage lifting and handling equipment coupled to an elevated aircraft passenger bridge.
The use of a baggage slide outside the service door of the passenger loading bridge is to transfer baggage to/from the aircraft in an area directly adjacent to the passenger entrance to the aircraft.
Owing to a growing trend among air travelers to carry their baggage onboard instead of checking it through at the ticket counter, overhead storage locations on aircraft can become dangerously overburdened. The FAA has guidelines restricting the size and number of pieces of carry-on luggage allowed, which the agency is urging the airlines to enforce. This baggage slide allows flight attendants and ground crews to swiftly and accurately handle overflow baggage so the baggage can be transferred to the cargo area of the aircraft without causing aircraft to sustain ground delays.
In addition, in many situations disabled persons are not required to give advance notice to the airlines of their special needs, and frequently arrive for boarding at the passenger loading bridge in wheelchairs or motorized scooters. The wheelchairs and scooters must be quickly checked as cargo after the disabled person has boarded the aircraft. Similarly, the wheelchair and scooter may need to be elevated to the loading bridge upon arrival at the passenger""s destination. Hence, there is a need for a baggage slide and lifting device capable of quickly and efficiently delivering baggage and other cargo, such as wheelchairs, to the cargo loading area or lifting such handicap devices to the loading bridge to assist handicapped passengers. The present invention satisfies this need.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,854 to Thompson, Jr. et al. discloses a ramp in an attempt to solve the above described problems. However, this baggage slide has several inherent deficiencies which limit its use due to its structure and method of attachment. Specifically, the Thompson slide has several limitations that limit its ability to accommodate the height the bridge has to be elevated to in turn accommodate the bridge connection to the aircraft access door. Thompson discloses a ramp which has an inclined portion starting at the tarmac at its lower end and terminating at the upper level first stair. The ramp is fixed to the employee auxiliary access stairway at at least two locations, one being at the top of the riser of the first step and the other being at the leading edge area of the stairway upper level platform.
From a safety standpoint, this creates shear loading and stress on the stairway assembly which could cause an accident whereby the ramp and stairway assembly separate from the bridge frame and fall to the ground.
The attachment of the present invention, on the other hand, is independent of the stairway assembly and the invention instead attaches directly to the framework of the bridge assembly. No additional load is applied to the stairway as a result of the combination lifting (elevator) means and ramp weight itself or in combination with the weight of objects sliding down the ramp or being lowered by the elevator means portion of the invention. The support cantilevered extension attaching the frame of the elevator means extends underneath the stairway landing platform. Now when the bridge needs to the elevated, the loading portion of the inclined ramp which is pivotally attached to one side of the frame of the elevator means elevates simultaneously with the bridge.